About the Varda Foundation:
The Varda Foundation (Stichting Varda) is a non-profit organisation based in the Netherlands. In the past 30 years of our existence we have supported over 126 projects all over the world.
The aim of the Varda Foundation is to support projects that enable people to have a better chance of getting a decent life within their own socio-economic context.
Priority is given to projects in developing countries and our goal is to enable people to sustain themselves.
Eligible for support are projects in the fields of education, health care, food production, employment, housing, cultural and social development, nature preservation and occasionally projects in other fields that need support.
The name Varda is is derived from ‘varða’, an Icelandic word for heap of stones.
In the old days, traveling on foot or horseback, varðas were ‘roadsigns’ that enabled travelers to find their way through the landscape. It was a good custom to put a stone on top of these heaps of stones if they had become unclear.
This symbolises the aim of our foundation: to support projects that receive little attention but deserve to be supported. Often great results can be achieved with only little financial input.
We usually support small-scale projects of small- or medium-sized organisations.
In the period 2019-2023 we donated a total € 108.500 to 9 different organisations mainly in South-Africa.
The Board of the Varda Foundation works on an voluntary basis and costs the Foundation makes are kept to an absolute minimum.
Applications for support:
Our resources are limited and therefore we cannot accept a lot of new applications. However, if you would like to apply, please take note of the following:
First of all, you need to send us a resume by email (max. one A4 sheet) of your project and organisation. The Board of the Varda Foundation will then look at the application and decide whether the foundation’s financial resources suffice for the project to be taken into consideration and whether the project meets our criteria. If that is the case, we will contact you and send you an application form.
When assessing a project, we make use of the 4 W’s : What-Why-Where-Who.
What: what is needed
Why: why is it needed
Where: where is the project and why there
Who: who benefits from the project and who are the people behind the project